I love statistics, especially when they favor natural childbirth and back up what I've known all along. A new study published in the July 2010 issue of the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology links induced labor with a greater risk of cesarean surgery.
The study, which looked at 7,804 first-time mothers giving birth in US birth centers showed that women who had their labors induced were twice as likely to have a c-section than those women whose labors started naturally.
“Labor induction is significantly associated with a cesarean delivery among nulliparous women at term for those with and without medical or obstetric complications,” the authors noted. “Reducing the use of elective labor induction may lead to decreased rates of cesarean delivery for a population.”
— Ehrenthal, D.B., X. Jiang and D.M. Strobino. 2010. Labor induction and the risk of a cesarean delivery among nulliparous women at term. Obstet Gynecol 116(1): 35–42.
Of course, I realize that there are times when induction is absolutely necessary but to many physicians are doing so out of convience or worry or a number of other excuses. I figure that if a women can get pregnant, then God knows when that baby is to be born. Perhaps it is time for a hands off approach and wait to see method before rushing to intervene with inductions.
How to Have a Safe and Healthy Birth
